1860 Army

This current year's production Army from Uberti USA is shaping to be the most accurate and shootable replica I've handled.
http://www.gunpix.com/gallery/Muzzleloaders_and_Blackpowder/1860army25yardduelist.jpg
It has a light mainspring and the trigger pull is as light as those on other recenlty made Ubertis I've handled. The chamber mouths and forcing cone measure .450 Inch slugged. My standard load is 28-30 spout full of pyrodex under a hornady .454 Ball. The Pyrodex compresses the full depth of the rammer throw leaving a fairly long jump to the barrel that doesn't seem to interfer with accuracy at all. It shoots bench groups of just over an inch at 50 feet. Velocities average about 840 fps- about the same paper performance as the standard .38 Special Load.
http://www.gunpix.com/gallery/Muzzleloaders_and_Blackpowder/1860Army50ftduelist.jpg
I slightly widened and biased the hammer/sight groove for better windage and visibility but I can still point to the sighting arrangement as an excuse for not being able to shoot it as well as a modern target revolver or one of the muzzleloading single shots.

It is not totally immune from being a bp replica.
http://www.gunpix.com/gallery/Muzzleloaders_and_Blackpowder/1860loose parts.jpg
The loading lever catch would walk out of it's dovetail until I used a brass punch to pinch the dovetail and then drifted the thing back in. The barrel locating pegs in the front of the frame are pressed in and prone to fall out.
Otherwise, no problems with parts durability, fit and overall timing.

The Army was Colt's answer for a light weight .44 revolver and centers around the navy frame fitted with a lightened and reconfigured .44 Cylinder. The Bessimer steel making process was new allowing mass production of steel of controlled carbon content. Colt was proud of the "Silver Spring Steel" that would allow him to make stronger, trimmer revolvers. Just to capitolise on this steel, the first Armys had the fluetted cylinder like the one in the picture. This was just fine except that the revolvers started blowing up and later cylinders were the old-form roll-engraved type.

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The design features of this revolver were incorporated into a .36 "Navy"Model the next year and then into the Pocket Police model. These were meant as an upgrade of the .31 Pocket revolvers but those had such a following that they continued to outsell the newer guns.

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Sistema1927

November 11, 2004, 11:54 PM

Nice shooting. I have always preferred the look and balance of the 1851, but you might convince me to step up to a .44.

mec

November 12, 2004, 12:01 AM

Yeh, and I like the history that attends the 51 too. It's probably just a fluke but, this army has outshot every navy we've tried lately. I suspect There are navy's out there that will shoot right along with this one. A matter of being lucky enough to trip over one.

BigG

November 12, 2004, 09:05 AM

They are nice shootin, trim revos. I miss my Uberti 1860. :o

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